January 31st

 It was on January 31st, 2020 that I saw Amy Helm (the daughter of Levon Helm) play the St. Basil's Cultural Centre here in Edmonton. Opening the show was local artist Leo Martinez.

Amy Helm Live in Edmonton January 31st 2020

Last Friday my buddy Buzzard and I went to the sold out (400 people) Amy Helm concert at St. Basil's Cultural Centre presented by the New Moon Folk Club.

As always with shows put on by the New Moon Folk Club they have a local artist opening the show. This time around it was the Leo Martinez Project. I had never heard of them before but wow, they were really good.
They only played a 20 minute set, but they made the best of their short set. Leo Martinez plays guitar and sings and also played bass drum and had a tambourine tied to his ankle, making him a one man band, but he did have a fiddle player (Cam Neufeld) and bass player (Sean Stephens) with him as well. Leo has got an incredibly strong voice and a lot of rhythm in his guitar playing. Opening his set with a short rendition of "Amazing Grace" which got everyone's attention right away. This is an artist that will be making waves in Edmonton and beyond. A very nice surprise for an opening act.

Leo Martinez Project.

Next up was Amy Helm (the daughter of Levon Helm from The Band) with what she is calling the Amy Helm acoustic Trio. This would be my second time seeing Amy Helm in concert. And I have to say I enjoyed this show more so then the previous time I saw her. Not that the last show wasn't good, just that this one was even better. Amy and her band played two 45 minute sets that seemed to go by so quick. This was the first show of her tour through Alberta having just played in Jamaica a few days earlier. So to go from sunny hot Jamaica to winter in Alberta must have been a bit of a shock to the system.

Amy's set was a mix of covers and originals from her latest album This Too Shall Light. Her music is a mix of folk, Americana and a touch of gospel. She has an amazing voice and the two guitar players she had with her were really good as well, great harmony between the trio. Some of the songs she played from her albums were, the title track "This Too Shall Light", "Gloryland", "Good News", "Rescue Me" and "Gentling Me" a song she did with Mary Gauthier. She also did some great covers like "Atlantic City" a Bruce Springsteen song that she told a great story about her father Levon singing this song lots while recovering from throat cancer. Speaking of Levon, she also did the song "He Don't Love You" which is an old song from Levon Helm & The Hawks, a Little Feat song "Roll Um' Easy", a Sam Cooke song "(Ain't That) Good News", they also brought out Cam Neufeld from Leo's band to play fiddle on the classic The Band song "Rag Mama Rag". Amy and band looked to be having a lot of fun up on stage.

This was an amazing night of music. Good times!!!

Amy Helm.

Amy Helm Live in Edmonton July 26th 2018

Well it's been over two weeks since this show, so it's about time I got around to writing a little something about it.

My buddy Buzzard and I went to this show at the Aviary, which is a small intimate room in downtown Edmonton with a capacity of 140 people. The show we went to was a great double bill of Amy Helm and local singer/songwriter Mike Plume. The last time Amy Helm played here I had to miss her as I already at tickets for another show. So I wasn't going to miss this one, especially when I saw that one of my favourite artists was opening.

The sold out show started with Mike Plume who has brand new album out called Born By The Radio which is amazing by the way. This would be my 14th time seeing Mike in concert, so as you can tell I am a huge fan. The venue was packed well before Mike hit the stage.

Mike opened his set with the song "Straight Back Home" from his 1997 album Simplify. A great opening song that had the crowd in the palm of his hand from the get go. He told some great stories, maybe a bit long winded, but the way he tells a story you can't help but be entertained.

Plume did some new songs from his most recent release Born By The Radio. Those songs were "My Old Friend", "Mama's Rolling Stone", "Long Long Line Of Fools" and "Western Wind" in which he told a story but him and the band back some 20 years ago getting to hang out with Levon Helm the drummer of The Band. Getting to rehearse at his place and sharing a smoke with Levon, when Levon said to Mike "I sure can hear that Western wind in your voice". Hence the song title Western Wind. I was surprised at how many people were singing along to the new tunes, obviously people had already heard the album lots. Nice to see the new songs go over so well.

Also played during his hour long set was a couple older ones like the Stompin' Tom Connors tribute song "So Long Stompin' Tom", where Mike told another great story about being invited to sing at Stompin' Tom's funeral.
Mike also played the great sing along song from his Red and White Blues album "Hey Hey What D'Ya Say (Coming Home Again).Another stellar show from Mike Plume. Looking forward to seeing Mike again on November 24th at The Station On Jasper (formerly the Needle Vinyl Tavern). Checkout Mike Plume's bandcamp page to purchase his new album plus many other titles.

Mike Plume at The Aviary.

Headlining the show was Amy Helm from Woodstock, New York who is the daughter of the late great Levon Helm who played drums in The Band. I had seen Amy once before back in 2010 at the Edmonton Folk Fest when she was playing in Levon Helm's band. This time around it was Amy fronting her own four piece band. Amy not only sings but also is damn good on the mandolin. Her back up band was quite good. Amy and her band performed a few new songs from her upcoming album This Too Shall Light!. She also did a few covers during the course of her set, including a couple by Ronnie Hawkins aka The Hawk whom Amy's Dad Levon played in back in the early 60's.

All and all I thought Amy's set was good, she sang with a lot of soul and was dancing and really feeling the music through out her set. The crowd thinned out quite a bit after Mike's set, but still a decent crowd for her. I just wish I knew her solo stuff a bit better. A great night out of live music. Good times!!!

Amy Helm at The Aviary.

Mike Plume t-shirt front.

T-shirt back.

The new Mike Plume CD I picked up at the show. Watch for the new album Born By The Radio on vinyl coming soon.